


K-I-S-S-I-N-G

by malinaldarose (coralysendria)



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bot Feels, Community: trope_bingo, Gen, Kissing, Trope Bingo Amnesty, Trope Bingo Round 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-01
Updated: 2014-06-01
Packaged: 2018-02-03 00:50:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1725104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coralysendria/pseuds/malinaldarose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is working on Dummy in the aftermath of Iron Man 3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	K-I-S-S-I-N-G

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Celebratory Kiss square on my Trope Bingo (Round 3) card. It is unbeta'd, so any mistakes, misspellings, or horrible things gone wrong are my own fault.

Pepper could feel the clack of her heels on the cement floor of Tony's workshop, but couldn't hear it; the sound was drowned out by what she had come to think of as Tony's "tinkering music." She was not entirely surprised to find that she didn't recognize the band; her own musical tastes were rather different from Tony's. She frowned, debating whether or not she should ask JARVIS to mute it, but a moment later the volume decreased to conversational levels. Tony looked up, blinking. Pepper most decidedly did not smile at him; he'd been locked away down here for too long again, and she would not reward bad behavior. But since the surgery, he had been doing so well, and although he cleaned up _very_ nicely indeed, she had grown to prefer him a little smudged, with oil on his nose and his hair every which way from running his hands through it as he thought.

"Thank you, JARVIS," Pepper murmured. She crossed the floor carefully, and held up the bags she carried. "Dinner, Tony."

"Five minutes," he said, turning back to his work. To Pepper, Dummy looked as good as new, without a scratch on his chassis. Nothing indicated that he and You had spent several days submerged in salt water in the wreckage of the Malibu house.

"Now, Tony," Pepper said, an edge in her voice. "Now. You were supposed to come upstairs an hour ago."

"I just need to finish this," he said vaguely, his attention not really on her. "J, how's that upload going?"

"Sixty percent, sir."

Pepper sighed. "Tony, I know how important Dummy is to you. And to You, for that matter." In the corner, You, still shiny from his own repairs, raised his arm and clacked his pincers. "But you haven't had any food in hours. JARVIS? Has Tony eaten today?" She knew the answer, but she wanted Tony to hear it.

"No, Miss Potts," the AI responded as she crossed the workshop to the couch in the corner. Setting the bags on the low table in front of it, she slipped off her heels and settled on one end. 

"Yes, I did," Tony said, waving a screwdriver in the air. "I had, um...." His eyebrows drew together as he tried to remember.

"As it is now 7:00 p.m. on Friday, sir, and your last meal was at 11:00 p.m. on Thursday, you have not yet eaten today," JARVIS said.

"And how many pots of coffee has he had?" Pepper busied herself with pulling take out cartons from the bags and arranging them on the table so she wouldn't stare accusingly at Tony.

"Four."

"Your point?" Tony asked, not relinquishing his tools.

"My point, Tony," and here she did look up at him, "is that you need to eat. You're not doing Dummy any favors by working on him when you are not yourself operating at peak efficiency." 

"If I may, sir, Miss Potts is correct," JARVIS said. "Until the upload is complete, there is nothing more you can do for Dummy."

Tony considered that, and sighed. "Fine. Dinner. But let me know the instant the upload is finished, J."

"Of course, sir."

Tony joined Pepper on the couch, grabbing a carton at random and starting to shovel food into his mouth. Pepper suspected he had no idea what he was eating, but all she said was, "Dummy looks good."

Tony swallowed a mouthful of lo mein and looked over at the motionless bot. "Physically, he's fine. JARVIS is re-uploading his code from backup."

"Will he remember?" A frown creased Pepper's forehead. She sometimes wished _she_ didn't remember that day or the weeks following it. Even now, months later, she got nervous if she got hot, afraid that Tony hadn't managed to nullify the Extremis after all.

Tony glanced at her as if he knew what she was thinking. His hand made an aborted movement toward his chest, as if to tap his fingers on the arc reactor that was no longer there. He shrugged. "Probably. He wasn't offline when the house went into the ocean, Pep." 

"Will he be all right?" Pepper's voice was softer now. Tony might not realize that she was fond of Dummy, too.

"He'll be as all right as the rest of us," Tony said.

"Really," Pepper said dryly. "That's not very reassuring, Tony."

"Upload is complete, sir," JARVIS announced.

"All right. Wake him up."

There was a hum, then a loud beep. Dummy's arm rose, and his pincers opened and closed.

"How does it look, J?" Tony sat on the edge of the couch, take-out carton forgotten in his hand.

"Dummy is fine, sir."

Pepper let out the breath she was holding, then realized that Tony was doing the same thing. He was undoubtedly far more nervous than she was; despite the abuse he heaped on Dummy's arm, he adored the ridiculous creature.

Suddenly, You rushed from the corner where he had been quietly waiting, headed straight at Dummy, his arm raised and his pincers clicking together in a way that Pepper could only interpret as agitated. 

"JARVIS! What's going on?" Tony rose from the couch, but Pepper was certain he didn't know what he intended to do; he couldn't very well get between them, given that they each weighed several hundred pounds.

"I do not know, sir."

Dummy turned toward You and extended his arm. Just as it looked as though he would slam into Dummy, You stopped. The bots' pincers opened and closed together, clicking softly as they brushed gently against one another.

Tony cocked his head, a frown on his face. "Uh, J? What're they doing?"

"Unknown, sir."

Pepper looked at them. There was a certain familiarity to the bots' actions. She watched them for a second more, then laughed. "They're _kissing_ , Tony. They're happy to see each other."

Tony stared at her. "Don't be ridiculous," he said at last. He looked back at the bots. "J?"

"Miss Potts' assessment is correct, sir. They are...kissing." JARVIS sounded embarrassed.

"Huh," Tony said. He sank back onto the couch. After a moment, he turned to Pepper. "Well, okay, I suppose. They see us doing it after we've been apart, so I guess they picked it up. Weird."

"I think it's sweet," Pepper said. "And I think we should follow their example." She leaned over and kissed him. With Dummy back online, everything was now officially back to normal, and that definitely warranted celebration.


End file.
